look into playing Vassal, it's a fan-made program not endorsed by GW (they've tried to shut it down in the past and failed).
it's basically playing the tabletop game, but on your computer instead, so no models or hobbying needed. all you need is an internet connection, then you can play from home with anyone around the world who's on the server, and there's generally 10-20 on most any time. it takes a little getting used to the hotkey commands (though it's all there on the right-click menu) and can take a little longer than a real game when typing out what you're rolling for (highly recommend using Ventrillo or other voice chat to nix that).
http://www.vassal40k.com
mods on the site include: 40k, epic, wfb, and blood bowl... there's also a warmachine/hordes mod somewhere around there too, and an almost never played lotr skirmish mod.
myself and a few others from the LO chatroom sometimes frequent the servers as well (though i generally only get on to play friends from the chatroom).